German Computer Verbs

This week, let's look at some verbs related to computers and technology! Many of these phrases are intuitive for anyone who speaks English, for example eine Mail öffnen or ein Fenster schließen, or ein Programm neu starten.

Below, you can see that the verb anhängen ("to attach") also works for email attachments:

Es sieht so aus, als hätte ich die PDF-Datei an die E-Mail angehängt.

It looks as though I attached the PDF file in an email.

Caption 36, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern - Part 1
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However, it is often necessary to learn some new vocabulary. For example, to unlock a computer or cell phone, we use the verb entsperren or freischalten, and not aufschließen or entriegeln as you would for a door. And then, of course, there are the words that are relatively new to both languages.

Den Mac-Nutzern empfehlen die Spezialisten, ein von Apple bereitgestelltes Sicherheitsupdate herunterzuladen und zu installieren.

The specialists recommend Mac users download and install a security update that has been provided by Apple.

Captions 15-16, Apple-Trojaner - Wie man ihn beseitigt
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Mein Management hat mir eine E-Mail weitergeleitet.

My management forwarded me an e-mail.

Caption 23, Schauspielerin - Jessica Schwarz - Part 1
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Ich habe auch ein E-Mail-Konto für Sie eingerichtet, welches Sie überprüfen können, sobald Sie eingeloggt sind.

I have set up an email account for you as well, which you can check as soon as you are logged in.

Captions 34-35, Berufsleben das Vorstellungsgespräch - Part 4
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The infinitive forms of the verbs and participles from the examples above are anhängen ("to attach"), herunterladen ("to download"), installieren ("to install"), weiterleiten ("to forward"), and sich einloggen ("to log in").

Further Learning
For a list of words (including nouns and adjectives) related to computers and technology, you can look at this extensive list. Missing from this list are many "Denglisch" verbs related to technology (downloaden, updaten...), but these should not be used in your German class anyway! They are often used in office settings, but are still essentially slang and used mostly among younger co-workers. It is best to know the real German words.